


Gazelle

by La_Saffron



Category: Castlevania (Cartoon), 悪魔城ドラキュラ | Castlevania Series, 悪魔城ドラキュラX 月下の夜想曲 | Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bathing/Washing, Dark Magic, Dream Sex, Empathy Link, Enemies to Tolerable Friends to Lovers, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, F/M, Forced Bonding, NOT a slowburn, Period Sex, Post Season 3, Post Trauma Healing, Sexual Tension, Shapeshifting, Vaginal Fingering
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:20:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 22,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24034948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/La_Saffron/pseuds/La_Saffron
Summary: No more intruders...no more guests, so he scours the woods surrounding his castle, donning his wolf form in hopes of tearing apart any unwelcome visitors with his bare teeth. And there she is, a lone gazelle in a clearing.Something's not right; that's not an animal he's looking at. And he can sense she knows the same about him.
Relationships: Alucard (Castlevania)/Reader, Alucard | Adrian Tepes | Arikado Genya/Reader, Alucard | Adrian Tepes | Arikado Genya/You
Comments: 43
Kudos: 171





	1. He's: Hunting

**Author's Note:**

  * For [stilastarla](https://archiveofourown.org/users/stilastarla/gifts).



> As my other work for Black Butler is on a little hiatus right now, I've been meaning to explore this newfound idea for a while. I've always wondered about Alucard's wolf form and how often he takes it. Of course, I never fail to dabble in a little bit of magical reader inserts here and there, so please enjoy this while it lasts.
> 
> Comments and kudos are always appreciated :)

He’s been alone before. He knows the feeling well. After all, with a father like Dracula and a mother who tended to the ill in Lupu before being mercilessly burned at the stake, loneliness loved his company. He didn’t really have a say as to whether he appreciated loneliness’ company or not. This time, however, the eerie silence in the hollow walls of the Belmont Hold carried a physical weight to it as he dragged himself through the underground keep. He wasn’t looking for anything in particular, but if he chanced upon a spell that warded outer forces from an enclosed area, he’d be more than satisfied with his visit. If not, another time. He has too much time, so it’s not an issue.

Alucard didn’t leave the castle unless necessary, so as not to look upon _them_. The corpses. He hardly saw them as human anymore, yet all he saw in them were rotten, corrupted human beings. Being they were, human they were not. Well, not at least in their last moments with him, no. He blinked harshly, as if trying to erase the thought. Best not to dwell on it.

He warily lifted a hand to graze against the spines of the thick books as he walked down a shelf. Musty dust lingered on his fingertips before he rubbed it away, sighing heavily. What was he even doing down here? He had no energy for earnest spell searching, but he did not want to be in the castle. Not now.

Reaching the end of the bookcase, Alucard paused his slow gait and lifted his head to drink in his surroundings. The library was so empty of life, only full of his kind who perished horribly at the hands of many generations of Belmonts. He was the only breathing thing down here and he no longer wanted to serve the dead company. He was tired of being surrounded by ghosts. 

Alucard made his way to the pulley system, hands working in sluggish movements, and pulled the lever. It jerked roughly once, stuttered a bit, then slowly began to rise. Alucard crossed his arms over his chest, staring distractedly at the wooden floor beneath his boots. His thoughts were silent for once. Strange. He usually had some form of coherency flooding through his mind. But there was nothing. 

Nothing but muted silence.

He closed his eyes gently, and exhaled sharply.

He knew it took no more than five minutes for the wooden balcony to reach the surface, but to him, it felt like centuries passing. He was slowly deaging; mind, body, and soul. His nose wrinkled slightly. If he had one.

Stepping out of the wooden barricade, Alucard took a resentful peek towards the towering castle he called home. The two corpses were still there, unmoving since the day he implanted them. His stomach twisted and a slight sickness overcame his being as his eyes stayed on the staked humans. _Look away_ , he urged himself. _Staring at them won’t fix what they’ve done._ Try as he could, Alucard didn’t remove his respiteful gaze from the distant corpses. He watched, with a churning stomach, the dried blood from their neck wounds beginning to crust and the eyes half-pecked out from the lingering birds nearby, leaving the partially eaten whites within the sunken sockets. Fresh blood no longer dripped from their fingertips to stain the dirt before his doorstep and Alucard considered, just for a moment, to slash their guts open. For the sake of creating a more ominous display to anyone unlucky enough passing by.

His eyes tore away from the bodies and he closed his lids, focusing on steadying his breath. No, leave them as they were. The stakes were enough of a goreish sight to any sane person. He very much hoped no one would think to visit him as his mother did his father. He would not have that type of tolerance.

God, he really was the opposite of Dracula.

But yes, no one must come within the nearest few miles of his estate. Perhaps he should spend his time doing shifts to scout any passerby. So as not to be mistaken as a fellow human (for he was no one’s fellow) from afar, he should take his wolf form. A predatory animal would be most effective in keeping the unwanted company away. How unfortunate that he should be his own guard dog, as if the staked bodies didn’t do enough, but he wasn’t doing much these days to stay lonely. Only secluding himself in his haunted castle, just like his old father, and he despised following his hermit-like way of life.

_Well, better day as any_ , he shrugged to himself. As he shifted smoothly into his wolf form, he sensed a new form of adrenaline pumping within his blood. Was this excitement? He hadn’t felt that in a while. Shifting had always given him a new sense of animalistic traits that added wonderfully to his battles. He always supposed it was from the vampiric side of his family, being that as vampires were far from human, only sharing similar features. He wasn’t sure if he ever liked being a wolf, but no better time to find out.

Perhaps, he would sink his fangs into today’s lunch. Fish had grown a little bland for his taste.

* * *

Alucard had begun in an outgrowing spiral, first circling the perimeter of the castle and traveling farther from the clearing where his castle lay, past the stream and farther into the woods. He trotted slowly, his paws lingering on the soft soil to feel for any vibrations to match his own. His tail bristled every now and then from the chill of the afternoon breeze, but the collar of fur around his thick neck reminded him of the heavy heat this costume brought. He sniffed and went on.

So far, there was nothing. No vibrations, no other sound. Just trees rustling their leaves beneath the sun and the occasional heaving sighs his lungs gave. He paused his slow walk and lifted his drooping head. _Listen_ , he told himself. _Sense without your eyes_.

And he did. Alucard’s golden irises disappeared behind lids as his head locked straight ahead and his ears perked, rotating with snail-like movement. Sound was so much more vibrant as a vampiric wolf, hearing every breath a flower took, the distant rush of water from the stream, and...no birds. No insects either. His eyes shot back open, focusing on something in the distance.

This wasn’t right. Even with no humans nearby, the earth would still be thriving, if not more so without man’s presence. Yet, he heard no chirps and no rattle. Winter was slowly disappearing, he would give the snow another month or so before the lovesick tug of spring would pour forth. His claws extended to dig into the ground a bit, trying to subtly feel the movement underneath. No, there weren’t any animals humping in an undergrowth nearby.

But there was something, one faint movement ahead of him. He allowed the silence to envelop his body once more, and just as the heavy blanket settled, he rushed forward. Patches of snow burst wherever his paw thundered through, yet he was nearly silent as he ran. He sniffed the air blowing past him. Yes, something big was up ahead and it wasn’t moving, but very much alive. Human or animal, this sensation in the distance was sure to be his next meal. 

Stop, someone yelled in his head. Alucard’s heart hammered against his ribcage with a violent thrum and he leapt into the air once to land gently on his paws, hind legs squeezing with cramps. He stopped too fast, but something told him to pause. Take caution. His gut was screaming all sorts of warning signs, and some part of him wanted to turn back around, but he’d come this far. His mind raced as he heaved giant breaths of air, wheezing.

Was it a hunter? A trained soldier? Or maybe even another vampire?

Whatever it was, it slowed his animalistic hunger and sparked his fight-or-flight reaction instantly. It was close, nearly 100 feet away from him. That’s right, he had rushed into the battle like a human, rash and brave. Did wolves even spy on their prey? This was the time to test and train his untouched hunting skills. He hadn’t observed many predatory animals hunting, but he knew enough about a cat pouncing on its food to imitate such behavior.

Trying to steady his uneven breath, Alucard crouched and stalked forward, his shoulder blades poking from his fur. His long tongue hung from his slack jaw, desperately trying not to pant heavily to alert his prey. He felt his tail bristle once more, but not from the cold chill, ears slowly paneling backwards into a defensive mode. The hammering of his heart slowly dulled to a steady pound, the adrenaline never leaving his body. He felt strangely calm the closer he got to the radiant sensation of the other being, and couldn’t deny the mouth-watering thrill of killing it.

What monstrosity. It was glorious.

He gingerly stepped over a large twig, suddenly realizing there were too many to be fallen from trees alone. He hung his paw mid-air, scanning the area around him. Something had slashed big branches down with haste and with something unnaturally sharp. Alucard’s neck stretched to glance upward at the soaring trees. There were broken branches, missing arms, but none were messily slashed. All the cuts were clean and precise. Too precise for an animal.

He lowered his head back to the area in front of him, eyes narrowing. A trained human then. He didn’t care for the purpose of the slashed trees, only too eager to devour a trespassing offender. It was time.

By the time he silently avoided the many fallen branches, he had stepped into a clearing. He wasn’t here before, not this far in the woods, but it was a good place to mark his territory borders nonetheless. His head tilted from side to side, seeking any life forms, but just as quickly as the feeling had come to him, it had gone. It was as if entering the clearing had erased the being. 

There was a gentle, subtle thrum beneath his paws, and unknowingly, Alucard’s fur stood on end, tail straightening, ears shuddering in defense. He gritted his jaw so as not to growl and draw more attention than necessary, yet his defense mode kept soaring. His heartbeat was so loud in his own ears that hearing anything else was dulled. Was he scared? Nonsense, he held the dominant power. 

  
Then, why was he so on edge from a simple clearing in the woods?

Suddenly, he saw it, a small movement from the far corner of his eye. If he hadn’t been frantically looking for something to ease the goosebumps beneath his fur, then he wouldn’t have spotted it. A lone gazelle, grazing quietly by the far edge of the clearing, directly opposite his peripheral view. He watched as its head swiveled ever so often to clear a new patch of grass, though it was brittle and probably tasteless.

He watched it carefully. He needed to study what he would devour, how it moved, what senses it used, and ultimately, how adept it was to danger. Though he didn’t want to address it, another question burned through his mind: what made this little gazelle so dangerous that the whole forest was still in its presence? Deers don’t have that kind of power.

The gazelle had elongated horns usually reserved for a dominating leader, curving towards the heavens, as they seemed to overweigh the head. Its neck was long and legs curved gracefully, holding an elegant posture for the body to graze peacefully. Ebony stripes, fluffed tail, diamond-shaped ears. 

This animal definitely looked like a gazelle, but he knew it was not. This “deer” was definitely not relative to any animal in any sense. He had sensed a human, and a large one at that, and judging by the slashed branches from earlier, it could be deduced that the broken twigs served as warning for the danger to be presented in the clearing.

Had he not studied zoology with his father as a child, Alucard wouldn’t have been able to identify the creature before him. Gazelles resided in Africa, traveled in herds, and ate digestible plants for their soft stomachs.

This “gazelle” is in Wallachia, currently alone, and chewed dry grass. 

_SNAP_

Fuck, he stepped onto a small twig! The gazelle’s ear perked towards his direction, its head shooting upwards to stare directly into his eyes. The moment their eyes met, Alucard knew somehow, the gazelle was female, despite the elongated horns attributed towards the males. It was only a few seconds, but the staredown felt very long and paused. The forest seemed to hold its breath as the gazelle blinked at his form, black eyes shining in the afternoon sun. Her hind leg took one step back, stopped, then galloped off the clearing. He chased her, growling.

She sprung through twisted bushes and over staggering rocks, leaving Alucard jumping in high leaps behind her. His breath was quick and heavy, and his jaws snapped at her legs when they were close enough. Suddenly, the gazelle burst towards a large tree with a sprout of energy, Alucard’s thoughts rejoicing as he had her cornered, when she hopped onto the bark and pounced off of the tree’s torso. Her action stunned him for a moment as he thought, _Deers don’t do that,_ before his body slammed into the trunk. 

Whining in pain, his eyes followed her movement, seeing her jump in an arc over his head and landing on the soft soil before staggering away into another graceful leap. Ignoring the sharp bruises into the side of his body, Alucard scuffled after the gazelle, eyes alert and jaw clenched in pursuit. Hunger seared through his mind and boosted his paws with an additional strength of energy he couldn’t find before.

He’d caught up to her again, following her static movements and winding trail. She never glanced over, but by the shudder of her delicate spine, he could tell she was desperate to live. Good. Vampires always loved the taste of blood when it held fear.

Alucard ran around her form instead of behind her, hoping not to get kicked or rear-ended by another large tree, biting and snapping at her belly. His fangs grazed her ribs once, and then finally tore through the flesh enough for the blood to spurt in his face. He allowed his tongue to hang freely from his jaw, saliva and blood flying past him as he reveled in the metallic taste. She was definitely excited but her blood held traces of magic within the copper.

That’s not right.

Spotting his momentary distraction, the gazelle skidded and turned sharply away from his side, off to a cooler spot in the woods, darker and more still. He thundered after her again, this time, summoning his sword as an aura of scarlet enveloped his being. It would take some time to reach him, yes, but he was too hungry to be missed out on a delectable lunch. Especially one with magical traces within her blood.

The farther he followed the gazelle, the faster she seemed to go. Her leaps were no longer elegant, but hurried, unrhythmic, and anguished. He sprinted after her figure with newfound strength. The whirring of water caught his attention and he mentally grinned. He knew exactly where she was headed and he intended to allay his hunting spree there. In desperation, she occasionally kicked dirtied snow into his face, but he successfully dodged the ones aimed at his nozzle.

Alucard slowed, breaths of air enveloping his lungs as he wheezed for oxygen. He had no more reason to chase, for his prey was already in position. He trotted forward with limp paws as his tail bristled with excitement. Sounds of rapid splashing and the scrape of hooves against stone reached his ears before his eyes were met with the scene he had been awaiting nearly all afternoon.

The gazelle was cornered at a small alcove within a stone boulder, a small waterfall wetting her horns as she tried to climb the rocks despite her bleeding injury, her hind legs stuck in the pool of fresh water below. The boulders shaped as a semicircle, with nowhere to run and not a place to jump over. She was trapped by the laws of nature itself.

He paused at the base of the pool, watching her with gleeful eyes as she attempted one more high leap before crashing down unceremoniously into the water, hints of red painting the clear ripples. A pang of guilt seared into his heart but quickly left when his stomach squeezed at the thought of chewing this young gazelle apart. If her blood was a delicacy in it of itself, imagine the meat! Why, he’d crack her bones for dessert as a reward for himself.

Yet, he allowed her to scamper to her hooves, her wild thrashing abruptly freezing upon seeing his shadow cast on the water. They held each other’s stares again, this time for a few seconds as the gazelle steadied her hind legs, almost in an attacking position. Her head twisted and cracked, dipping to show her long horns. Ah, that’s right, the horns. They would feel very painful impaled in his blackened heart, but the tug he felt to the left of him signaled his trusty sword was close. The fight would be less than a minute once it came into play, regardless of whether she had horns or not. 

He prodded a paw forward, feeling arrogant and reassured in his victory. The moment his foot dipped into the rippling water, her uneasiness suddenly depleted. It was as if he had turned into a bug for her to consume, insignificant of his prowess as a hunter. Undeterred, he stalked further into the shallow, unwilling to let her sense his own hesitation. He couldn’t stop, not with how far he’d come.

The gazelle lifted her head proudly to blink at him, her eyes crinkling at the edges of those round bulbs, almost as if smiling. Was she taunting him? She certainly seemed amused. Alucard’s hind legs reached the shallow pool to eye her warily. Again, they held gazes, the gazelle in a calmer state than he. A reaction that confused him immensely since he’d never seen a victim of the hunt be so at peace with Death’s jaw at their throat. This further confirmed his suspicions of the “gazelle” not fully being what she posed as. Normal animals have instinctual fear, flight responses to immediate danger, yet the gazelle before him was drained of such. 

Now, it was as if the roles reversed: she was the hunter and he, the prey.

Silence.

With a flash of bright red, Alucard could not see anymore and retreated a few steps backwards, his legs hitting the dirt base of the pool with a sting to his muscles. His ears picked up several claps of water as he rapidly tried to blink the water out of his eyes. For a moment, a blurred vision of the gazelle hopped around his figure with a joyful bounce before she disappeared from view. A sudden pain pierced his rump when the gazelle’s hooves swung and launched his furry body forward and into the pool. He hacked up the icy streams of water from his throat when it caught hold, the distant sound of chirping echoing in the background.

The laughing cut off swiftly as he willed his sword to zoom straight and not stop until it hit the target. His vision cleared when he rasped harsh breaths, spotting the gazelle kicking up dirt to escape the magical weapon. She sprinted fast, almost faster than when he had been chasing her. Spots of her horns vanished behind a curtain of leaves and then no more. She was gone.

He sighed. There was no point in chasing after her now. He had little energy for such games with enchanted beings, especially if he didn’t know anything on how to properly attack one. It was clear that she was swift and skilled in the art of diversion. Too clever for his distracted mind.

Alucard limped out of the shallow and violently shook his heavy fur, sprays of water flying all around him and into the patches of snow nearby. With a whisper, he was back in his normal form, slightly damp, and he called for his sword with a flick of his finger. It obediently soared back to him, slicing a few leaves in the process, before slipping perfectly back into the sheath. He eyed the ground for a few moments, rubbing the handle of his sword, pondering.

So he was bested by a gazelle. Strange how it came by so close to his living borders and displayed fear on multiple occasions, yet when despondently cornered into its last moments, the horror of death and adrenaline had vanished, almost as soon as he stepped into the water with her. Could she sense something he did not?

Alucard swallowed when his eyes shot wide open, blinking a few times in shock. His tongue quickly licked the inner curve of his teeth as he tasted it over and over again. Yes! Her blood was still on his taste buds, the magic that flowed through them was dull and weak, but there. And for the first time in a while, his lips curled to give into a ghost of a smirk. He had something to work with. There must be something in his father’s grand library about bloodletting and sorcery, if not, he knew full well that the Belmont Hold never failed to dissuade his research.

Mentally marking the location of the clearing he discovered, Alucard made his way back to the castle, lunch forgotten with a new hunger for information on his mind.


	2. He's: Learning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After being eluded by the mysterious gazelle, Alucard begins to study up on what he felt at the clearing to pinpoint the gazelle's movements, upon which he finds some crucial information that may help him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a disclaimer to all witch-lovers: this is my own depiction of covens and witches. I am mixing my knowledge of black magic and traditional Other Side stuff into this story for the purposes of entertainment. Most of this is not to be taken too seriously.
> 
> Please don't come for me :')

Even if he  _ had _ skipped out on the gazelle that could have been a wondrous lunch, Alucard was still hungry in some sense and didn’t miss the opportunity to gather a few ripe berries along the way back to Castlevania. Something to snack on while he returned to the Belmont Hold, as he wasn’t entirely confident that his father’s depository of knowledge held anything magical within its keep. He sharply exhaled and popped another berry into his mouth, feeling the little fruit explode over his tongue and filling his throat with a mushy sweetness. Something akin to the gazelle’s flesh had she not slipped out of his grasp.

Alucard was soon comforted by his confidence, assuring his ego that he would capture that false deer, only that it would take some time. All things come to those who wait, he reminded himself. He frowned almost immediately after that thought, the sweetness in his mouth turning sour. Unlike  _ some _ people.

Forget them, his mind spoke with dismissive waves. Onto the Belmont Hold.

Redirecting his troubled psyche to the underground hold, he jumped from the wooden lift and rushed to the giant book of contents that lay in the center of the Hold. Carefully unfolding his handkerchief of colored berries on the pedestal, Alucard settled his forearms on the open covers of the book as he flipped through the pages. Occasionally, his hand distractedly reached for another bite of sweet fruit while his eyes scanned down the pages of hidden scripture, hoping to find a keyword that would lead him to the secrets of today. He needed sources on black magic, witches, and sorcery. Shapeshifting would do as well, but rare as it was, he would not be disappointed if it didn't come up.

After mentally marking several books that caught his attention, he rushed to the respective bookshelves, hands running along the spines of the books rapidly, imitating what he'd done earlier in the day. He murmured absentmindedly to himself, repeating the certain book title in a mantra until he found the book in question, pulled it from its place and moved on to the next one. This process repeated after several times until he finally collected a short pile of books, thick and thin alike. He regathered his pouch of forgotten berries from the pedestal and centered himself on the floor, his back against one of the heavy wooden shelves. He grunted in discomfort when he remembered he'd been kicked in the ass by that damned gazelle and silently cursed her hooves for bruising him.

Frowning, he picked the first book from on top of the pile and flipped it open. After briefly scanning the contents, he learned that it was a documentary on witches, another form of darkness that the Belmonts had pursued to eradicate. Mostly the ones who tapped into the Other Side, using ancient forms of sorcery derived from the most vile of places. He knew of other covens, the witches that used magic, or “high forms of science” (as his father liked to put it), for good purposes. Nevertheless, good witches or not, he knew what he felt at the clearing was unnatural. It did not feel like science at work. So, witches was a good place to start.

Alucard’s eyes narrowed as he skimmed through several spells written to combat a witch’s attack, most of the writing scrawled and difficult to decipher. Perhaps these spells couldn’t be trusted. They seemed too hastily written to be secure enough to battle with the forces of pure evil. However, he and Sypha had used an unfinished locking spell to capture Castlevania, so he supposed it wouldn't hurt to try some of them out if the opportunity arose.

He turned another page to find a detailed drawing of several naked women dancing around a brightly lit fire, their clothes burning in the blazing pit. His nose wrinkled at the depiction, knowing full well about the notorious tradition witches were known for. The nude dances around a fire in the middle of the night, all to attract the attention of Satan himself. Supposedly.

As much as he wished to roll his eyes and move on, he forced himself to read the description adjacent to the drawing. His eyes followed the writing carefully as it read out warnings about this event, how it usually occurred at random times, but always at night when three stars were visible in the dark sky. The most dangerous time was underneath a full moon and new moon. The female witches tapped into a higher power in the moon during these times, converting the tug and tide of these lunar events into a dark power.

Witches, he read, followed the path of the lunar calendar, as their menstruation cycle was marked as such. They believed in the power of their own sexuality and how the side of impurity had the ability to boost this strength into world-conquering forces. 

Hmm. This is something his father should have invested in, had he lost hope in the night creatures. Of course, he was half-joking.

He continued to read down the warnings of every lunar event that could come to pass and the requirements for such a tradition. His heart skipped two beats as his eyes refocused and skipped back to the last sentence. Requirements. This is something he needed to know. He groaned, knowing he should have brought a notebook and quill along, but forgot in his excitement to capture the gazelle. Deciding to read on despite the lack of writing tools at hand, Alucard returned to the pages, reading carefully. It summarized:

A large clearing, void of trees within 50 feet with a clear view of the moon, be it full or new. If the moon could not be wholly spotted from the cleared area, the dance would fail. Large amounts of wood to be sliced sharp and precisely. Branches could not be messily broken, as that would interfere with the flow of magic. The number of witches at the event did not matter, though it noted that the more witches present, the stronger the chance of summoning dark power. Before beginning the dance, all witches present must discard all forms of clothing onto the wooden pile of twigs and light it all ablaze at once. Reversing the process would result in failure.

Alucard swallowed hard, no longer paying attention to the berries by his side as he read the information over and over again. Everything was slowly coming into play. The clearing, the stillness he felt, the branches, the gazelle--

He shot up to grab a few pieces of stray paper, all the while rummaging around for spare ink and a quill. Forget memorization, he needed to write this down, how vital! Almost chuckling to himself, Alucard wondered how lucky he was to have picked up the very first book he saw and the amount of exact information it gave him. For once, he felt productive in his time, bidding it slowly with a delicate plan to seize the false gazelle. This would be his hobby for now, to continue a sideline of work the Belmonts had left behind: eradicating the witches' work from the world.

After a long time of scavenging through the many shelves and trunks, he finally came up with several stray papers and an old bottle of ink, its withered quill beside it. Before he sank down again to scratch all the necessary information down, he suddenly remembered something. The documentary had mentioned the lunar calendar, a cycle by which the witches followed scrupulously. If this was indeed the case, then he would have to begin marking the pattern of the moon as well. It wasn’t like he slept much anyway. Now he had something to distract his dark nightmares of two lone figures beside his door frame.

Alucard leaned over the book and scaled through the pages, pausing every now and then to gaze at drawn images, then flip forward. He didn’t see any mapped out calendar, though he was hoping the previous Belmonts would have done the work for him already. Nothing to be said about it, though. He would have to see through this tracking himself. Tonight would be the first marked day.

He blinked and froze. What if tonight was one of the events where the moon held peak power? Then, he was definitely fucked. Something would happen in his woods and he would have virtually no power to stop it, try as he may. That gazelle was up to something sinister, he was sure of it. After all, what deer prepared for a dance of Satan?

Evening fell faster than he had anticipated, being that he nearly forgot about spending all afternoon with the gazelle. He was a quick reader, though, and successfully scanned through all the chosen books that now lay in a haphazard pile around his form. His back ached from bending over so much, but he was satisfied with the written information and few plans he had scrawled on the papers. He felt slightly proud of himself for gathering such large amounts of details on exactly what he needed to know to end the gazelle. He didn't need any human intruders, but he was glad to have thought of scouting out for any signs of potential danger so early on. The last thing he needed was a spell vexed on him.

Alucard almost didn’t want to leave the Belmont Hold, strange as it was, but he rose with effort, stretching his sore limbs from sitting in one position too long. He arched until his spine released a series of satisfying pops after which he let go with a sigh. His stomach clenched at the sudden thought of food, something he couldn’t seem to take purchase on today. Thinking back on it, he remembered that he had several dried fruits and spices in his cabinet that could serve as a small appetizer. No fish or gazelle today. Gathering all his papers and a few books for reference, Alucard set off for the wooden pulley.

Only to discover that it wasn’t there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I decided to make this chapter a little short and Reader-less only because I want you guys to focus on the information I'm spilling to you. It may be a lot, so take it in if you will as I spice up the next chapter which will undoubtedly include you in it 👀
> 
> Thank you for bearing with me! :D


	3. He's: Shocked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not feeling like his usual self, Alucard discovers the little time he has to pursue the gazelle's plan for something sinister when he finds himself in an awkward situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I often force myself to re-watch some scenes of Season 3, solely for the purpose of studying the mannerisms and architecture of the show. I try to hit as close to home as possible, so forgive me if I forget a detail or two!
> 
> Okay, we're finally meeting you in this chapter! This is like, 6000 something words, guys! Please let me know if you like the action here :')

All he saw were the broken stairwells as he stared at the bare spot where the pulley system should have been waiting for him, seeing as he was the only person who could manage it. Unless…He broke out of his shocked trance and quickly glanced upwards, sighing heavily in relief when he saw the square box high near the surface. He was admittedly a bit ashamed to have not noticed both the giant boulder weight that was in front of him nor the fact that the wooden balcony was casting a dark shadow from the dim light of dusk. Ignoring the heat creeping up the back of his neck, Alucard clutched his new books with a tightened grip and took several leaps, flying towards the entrance to the Hold.

Settling softly on the grass, he quietly made his way towards the castle, purposely ignoring the two corpses as he briskly walked past them and through his doors. They closed behind him with a bang that seemed to echo throughout the foyer, emphasizing his lonely state. He beelined for the kitchen with no other thought on his mind, save for eating something. Dumping his books on a nearby countertop, he rummaged through the pantry storage, trying not to be too disappointed when he found old vegetables and a few dried fruits. It seems he’d have to plant some more seeds in the garden once he was through with this whole gazelle ordeal.

He had been frightened for a moment, Alucard reminisced as he sliced clean through a tomato, that perhaps he was under attack. He wasn’t sure whether the gazelle was an accomplice to something sinister or the drive for the force itself. All he really knew for certain was that the gazelle was involved in magical practice; anything else was simply concocted theory.

The dhampir chuckled dryly to the empty kitchen as he pictured a little gazelle attempting to drag an entire pulley system out of its hinges from a deep gorge all by herself. Foolishness. Paranoia and excitement had clearly gotten to the best of him. Everything that happened by the afternoon in the clearing went by so fast, Alucard almost forgot it transpired, had the bruises on the side of his torso and rump not pierced painfully through his movement every now and then.

Curse that stupid deer.

After lighting several candles to illuminate the room, Alucard settled on his chair with a silent grunt and reopened the witch book, crinkling the pages as he flipped through unhurriedly. The stray papers he had scrawled information on was stuck in between the thick pages, summarizing and highlighting the most important details of what he read. His eyes lazily scanned his writing to compare it with the book’s as his hand monotonously switched between feeding him and poking through his food. A sudden nostalgic memory of his childhood flashed through his mind as remembered his mother admonishing him for reading at the table while eating.

‘You need to focus on your food!’ she used to rebuke him with her finger waving at his face. ‘It can lead to overeating, Adrian. Your digestive system would not appreciate it in the long run.’

Unknowingly, he cracked a small smile, sadly shaking his head at the memory before continuing to study the book. His eyes fell upon a paper he had mapped out to be a calendar, one side following the lunar cycle and the other solar. He’d copied images of the moon phases from a book on celestial figures, each drawing corresponding to the moon’s image that night. Twenty-eight out of thirty average days were full of moon sightings while the other two, the first and last days of the month, were black. The new moon was a tricky thing to spot, but with a father like Dracula, this knowledge came easy to him. Humming to himself, he tugged his chair back and stood, grabbing the book with him as he walked back outside into the crisp night.

Once he was far enough away from the smelling bodies and neared the Belmont Hold, a spot where it would be easy to study the sky, he looked up. There were a million stars twinkling in the dark blanket of night, some winking at him while others didn’t move. Pausing his search to enjoy the scene, Alucard began to mentally draw out the most obvious constellations he saw, the ones he and his father used to map out. He vaguely remembered that his father had owned a magnificent telescope, and a powerful one at that, but he was certain it was either rusty or destroyed from the battle he endured with Dracula.

As he swiveled his head to inspect all around, he found that he could not spot the moon anywhere. He must be higher than the trees to see it. Heaving a sigh, he took a giant leap, willing his body to float above the trees so that perhaps he might be able to see it. There it was, his keen eyes had caught the tiniest sliver of cloudy white beyond the horizon of inky blue. His heart dropped to his stomach, where his recent dinner turned and twisted inside him.

It was a thin crescent, meaning there was nearly one more night before the new moon. Opening his drawn out calendar, he quickly scanned the sheet, finding the shape of the moon that best fit what he saw beyond him. The 29th night of the lunar cycle showed a small sliver of moon that he drew in. Doing a quick back-and-forth lookover, Alucard realized that this was his last chance, the last night before something powerful could happen. His body gently settled back onto the grass, his boots steadying his posture as a wave of dizziness overcame him for a moment.

He clenched his fist in resolve. It was clear. Tomorrow night, he would have to intervene with any ritualistic dance that may invoke dark powers from the Other Side, even if he  _ did _ find the whole thing a bit superstitious. Witches were not his forte, as he had never met one before, but at least he had the previous Belmonts to thank for the helpful information provided about the notorious dance the witches performed. 

Supposedly.

After staring at the marked circle in his calendar for a long time, his feet sluggishly prodded back in the direction of the castle, the image of a shining crescent engraved in his mind. Alucard would have read up on more signs and meanings behind each moon phase, but his chase with the gazelle did a strange number on his body, exhausting his mind as well. Rolling his tense shoulders as he followed through the warm halls, he scrunched his face in slight annoyance at his tight muscles. This wasn’t new, but it certainly needed to be remedied soon. Sore shoulders would do him no good in a battle with a witch, only hinder him.

He sat on his sheets for a moment, refusing to stare up at the canopy as he gazed off into the distance. His eyes blurred with thought, replaying the events of the day through his head as best as he could remember. There was so much to catch up on, but all he could focus on was the feeling of the gazelle’s blood in his mouth. How metallic it tasted with the added magic as a thrill to his tongue. It was almost like wine; difficult to swallow but the aftertaste and effects were ethereal. The minor victory he held with that accursed deer was only harming her side, but he allowed himself an ounce of pride to worm its way into his head.

Without realizing, his head padded onto the pillow as he drifted off with the replaying image of the elegant gazelle rear-ending his ass as he splashed into a deep abyss of water, all the while thinking,  _ Deers  _ _ really _ _ don’t do that _ .

And for the first time since that night with the hunters, Alucard fell into the deepest sleep, losing all conscious thought.

He woke up very late in the afternoon with a gasp, his chest heavy with a lethargic tug that he wished would disappear. He whipped his head wildly around the room, not recognizing why the sun’s rays were not as bright as they should be in the morning. Tossing the silky sheets off his body, he clambered out of bed to rush to the window, hoping to be mistaken and find that it was indeed morning and he was just overthinking it.

But no, to his dismay, it  _ was _ afternoon, or rather, nearly evening. His heart raced in his chest as he quickly ran to imitate his morning routine, washing his face in haste and dressing too quickly, nearly stumbling to the floor when he tugged on his boots. This was not a good start to the day he thought he would have captured the gazelle successfully. He wasn’t nearly prepared enough and he sternly chided himself for not studying more on a concrete plan to disrupt the dance. If there even was one. However, he was certain of it, since the clues were all there: the branches for the firewood, the wide clearing void of healthy grass to view the new moon clearly, and the gazelle...Well, she was magic, and that was enough to settle the case for pursuit.

God have mercy if he found more than one witch at the clearing. He might just lay himself down and die there.

As he slipped his arms through his coat sleeves, Alucard noticed something out of the corner of his eye. It was the book on witches laying contentedly on his pillow right next to the dip where his head was. He stopped his hurried preparations to stare longer at it, trying to rack his brain of a memory where he had brought the book with him to his chambers. He was certain he’d left the book in the kitchen with the rest of the books, but perhaps he didn’t realize that he brought it upstairs?

Alucard eyed the book with wary glances, as if he expected some demon to pop out of it, but nothing really happened. The book stayed as still as all inanimate objects do. Sighing, he picked up the book and held it under the crook of his arm as he briskly walked out of his room. 

He hurried through his late breakfast, not really finding an appetite, and studied the book as he chewed his food. After several quick calculations, it appeared to him that tonight was the new moon, a symbol of new beginnings and a prime period to initiate new things. This, he read, gave a boost of aura towards any newborn project one wanted to start. Witches, however, tapped into the energy of every lunar event, bringing down its power to feed into their deepest desires. Alucard assumed some sort of animal sacrifice would be involved in these situations, but failed to find any mention of such. A relief, he found, as he didn’t need more to deal with than necessary.

All he really wanted was to erase this trespasser from his life, whether she was chased away forever or dead between his teeth. And whatever transpired in a few hours would soon be the pinnacle of such a wish. It could not fail.

The sun didn’t set too fast, since spring was approaching, but the light from the windows didn’t sit well with Alucard, the way it dimmed. He was still upset at himself for sleeping in so late, though he wondered why it happened. He was an early-riser, up and awake before dawn had even cracked, so it confused him as to why he awoke so late. It wasn’t like him, and he wasn’t too exhausted from the day before to blame the drowsiness. Nor had he stayed up too late in the night working his eyes in dying candlelight to read further.

Closing the book with a gentle thump, Alucard stood from the table and paused to lean his palms against the surface, holding it. He listened to his steady breathing, the rush of his own blood sound in his ears. He was alone, and he intended to stay alone. For the meantime. While this was an agitating turn of events in his quiet life, the goal is what was in it for. Peace. That’s all he wanted right now. Refocusing his troubled mind and healing his broken heart would be ideal right now, but his current mission was to eradicate any threats to this journey of his.

With those last thoughts lingering, he lifted himself from the table with a silent sigh and headed towards the door, mentally marking that he left all his books piled on the edge of the table. Pushing the heavy iron doors open, he quietly reviewed his plan of attack for tonight. What he came up with was simple: keep watch on the clearing until a presence made itself known. The second he saw any sign of a flame, that’s when he attacked. If the wood for the bonfire was fully engulfed by the flames, he would be too late to disrupt anything. That’s the reason this could not fail.

Throwing one last look at the Belmont Hold, he slid his sword out of its sheath and melted into his wolf form, the weapon floating besides him. Delicate whispers of cool air breezed past his ears and he accepted the well-known feeling of adrenaline course through his veins as the day before. This time, however, he was prepared to encounter other beings, unlike yesterday’s mishap. He knew enough about his opponent to get a grasp on what was to come, so he felt he wasn’t truly blind to the situation at hand.

And with a shudder of his fur, Alucard began to run for the clearing.

  
  
  
  


By the time he reached the familiar spot of where he had first sensed the gazelle’s large presence, the sun had dipped lower in the sky, casting a cool haze over the trees’ leaves. Alucard paused willingly where he sensed danger, but no longer heard an urgent voice telling him to stop. He stopped and waited, closing his eyes to enhance his senses once more. He felt the twilight’s ether settle on his nose as he sniffed the air for any unknown scents he may not have noticed before. The sound of his heartbeat slowly grew as he felt it physically pulse within his ribs, occasionally threatening to pop clean out of his chest. 

His fangs slid out a little when he felt a thrum beneath his paws once more, the same subtle vibration that initially alerted him to intruders. He didn’t rush forward though. He needed his body to control his instinctual pull.

And then, nothing.

Alucard opened his eyes and blinked. That was strange, he sensed the exact feelings from yesterday so why didn’t they lead him to the large aura? Perhaps the gazelle was out there and certainly knew of his lingering presence, so she concealed herself. Still, there was something unnatural about this whole thing. Instead of waiting for something to alert him, he should already be waiting for his prey. Isn’t that how wolves hunted? By stalking their victims?

Wheezing out a cough, he trudged forward again, glancing upwards every now and then to check for familiar landmarks on the way to the clearing. He didn’t expect to see his pawprints still implanted in the dirt when his head drooped momentarily, but he was quite glad to see them anyways. Picking up his pace, he urged his hind legs to power through the snowy patches of grass, his heart sounding like a bell in his head. There was no escaping it, he was just too excited.

Before he could trot more than 10 feet, he remembered the fallen twigs and sliced branches, causing him to halt abruptly. His neck twisted to scan the nearby area for any such sight, but to his heart’s erratic beats, they were gone. As if they’d never been there in the first place. Luckily for his sharp vision, he noticed several indents in the soft soil where the largest branches had slammed down, and if he squinted, he could spot unnaturally bald spots up in the trees where arms of branches had grown.

The sun had disappeared beyond the horizon by now, its light weaker than before as the oncoming evening spilled on the opposite side of the sky. He needed to hurry. He was still in disbelief at how fast the day had gone by, considering he wasted most of it by sleeping it out, but had little time to think about it.    
  


Just as he brushed past a large trunk of an old tree, he heard a sigh. He froze. It wasn’t next to him, but his ears picked up sound from the other side of the clearing. Not daring to move his body, Alucard craned his neck around to see past the tree’s body. There he saw a large gathering of all the branches he stepped over yesterday, piled in a form of stacked pillar. Nothing was lit yet. No sign of fire. And he waited, breathlessly, for movement, for the owner of the sigh to come out.

It was silent, too silent. Again, the forest suddenly went still, no hum of life or sound of wind as Alucard looked on with bated breath. Time seemed to stop as he was surrounded by sounds of his own quiet breath and the roar of his blood. Everything was out of place, he didn’t feel alive anymore. Death could not have been more peaceful than now. Nothing moved, nothing was heard, and he could not blink. The earth, for a moment, didn’t breathe.

Then, his ear bristled and his tail stiffened, fur standing on one end as he clamped his jaw down from letting out an unprompted growl. There it was, there was that feeling again! Someone was close. He never let his eyes leave the clearing, sharpening his vision to include his peripheral sight in case he missed anything. Another rustle alerted him and his eyes followed, quick as lightning, the sound that came opposite his line of vision. Trees, trees, the pile of wood, trees, trees, and--

Out of the bushes came a figure he knew well enough by now as it slowly walked into the clearing, its pace unhurried and sluggish. His breath nearly caught in his throat. It was the gazelle. Her horns were glinting in the dim glow of the twilight sky, momentarily blinding Alucard’s vision as he thought,  _ Fuck it, that is  _ **_not_ ** _ a deer _ . He peered as his eyes noticed a large bundle in her mouth and within the cloth came the harsh clinks and clanks of what sounded like a mix of pots and jewels. She held the bundle tight in her jaw, though her neck staggered its proud stretch every moment or so, almost acting like she traveled with it. 

If this really was only a gazelle and nothing more, then perhaps this bundle was her master’s. He’d never seen a wild animal hoard objects unuseful to them, only trained pets acted as such.

Only daring to take little breaths through his nose, Alucard watched as she finally reached the pile of wooden branches and steadily craned her neck to softly place the bundle on the ground. Her head lifted gently and with every move she made, her sense a weak aura enveloping her body which grew stronger by the second. He hardly kept his mouth shut when the gazelle’s body flashed in a brief color of violet before she changed shape. Her elongated head flattened, her hind legs thickening as she lifted her front hooves to stand, shoulders forming from the sharp blades.

And just like a whisper, the moment passed. The gazelle disappeared and in her place stood a young woman. Alucard’s eyes widened.  _ A shapeshifter! _ He thought in surprise.  _ Why didn’t the book of witches mention this? _

Her hair was tangled like she hadn’t brushed it in months and her body was covered in what he could only call rags. Even from this distance, he could smell the sweat and bile on her as he scrunched his nose in slight disgust. If he gazed closer, her nails were a little too long to be safe around any skin with dirt stuck underneath. She looked like death from the back, the exact description he’d give any witch until she turned around.

It was like looking at a whole other woman. Despite the dirty and disheveled appearance, she was undoubtedly pretty in a sense. He knew it, he knew it was a witch, but somehow she didn’t fit the script. Yes, everything was in place, all the clues and theories he’d come up with proved fact, yet he was unhinged. The gazelle--er, woman--- looked nothing like evil. Though he knew better than to judge on appearances, he didn’t sense any malice from her aura. Even her body language was small and uncertain, nothing like the gazelle he had encountered yesterday. Gone was the proud, confident and keen presence he’d chased away.

Then, why was the forest stilled in her presence?

HIs thoughts were broken when she exhaled shakily. Alucard recognized the sound as the same sigh from before and she plopped in front of the wooden stack, shivering slightly before glancing up at the sky. She gazed for a few moments, peered behind her to eye the darkening sky, then trembled again and hugged her shoulders. Yet, she made no move light the fire to possibly warm herself. He narrowed his eyes. If she wasn’t igniting the wood for warmth, then the fire was surely not for the purposes of anything physical.

He sensed something amiss in the ether. That must be why the earth was so still.

The woman reached out and patted her bundle with mirthless motions. “Almost time,” she whispered, so softly, he almost didn’t catch it. Her voice was raspy, like she hadn’t spoken in years.

Almost time for what? Alucard wondered anxiously. He followed her line of vision and looked heavenward. Behind her, the sky was nearly black, the navy blanket slowly filling with stars. He could spot nearly a thousand faint ones with his increased vision, but to a human, he supposed, there were only one or two clear twinkles. The witch was counting stars, but where had he heard of such a concept...Ancient astronomers used to read the stars using certain constellations, but that required years of training and a more precise concentration than mere skygazing.

The witch looked back at the sky behind and nodded twice. Alucard watched as every now and then, she looked up to the sky, did a little head bob, then went back to rubbing her bare feet. His thoughts were racing, trying to remember the moment he read about counting stars for some significant reason, and the more he couldn’t remember, the more tingly his paws felt. There was something, something he had studied last night, what was it?

Finally after three more head bobs, the witch stood abruptly, startling Alucard as it hit him. Three stars! Three clear stars to the naked eye were the sign of nightfall, and the eve of the next day as calculated by the lunar calendar. She must have been waiting for the new moon’s entrance into the sky. He silently berated himself for not recognizing the obvious signs sooner and turned his attention back to the young woman. 

She brushed herself off and stretched her limbs, folding her elbows for a few moments then switching to do the same to the other side.The clearing was full of brittle and hard grass, nearly reduced to dead dirt. No plant life thrived in this specific clearing, Alucard observed, wondering how he had not felt it before. There was no movement of insects beneath the earth and no potential for future life either. The witch had cleverly chosen her spot of doom. How easy it was to start a fire here and not have to deal with flaming trees in the way.

After pulling her body up from her toes, her arms lingered in the air before dropping flatly along her sides. Alucard’s claws lengthened as they scratched the earth in wait, his thoughts repeating one thing: here it comes, here it comes, here it comes. Be ready for anything, he told himself as he crouched his body in a pounce, shoulders flexing. Do not hesitate, show no mercy, and end this foolishness. Saliva wetted his inner cheeks as he let his jaw slack, breaths of anticipation huffing in clouds of frost in the night.

Then, she reached down once more and grabbed her hem. Wait.

He watched her pull the torn dress upwards, the young witch began to undress and her hands worked quickly to get rid of the clothing. He stared, not at all expecting her to strip so early in the ritual and simply froze in shock. He nearly called for his sword, but stopped himself, waiting for signs of fire first before springing into action. Her body was dirty as well as weak and with a simple glance he could tell she hadn’t eaten in a while. Besides for the grass she grazed yesterday, though he didn’t know how that food transferred to her human stomach.

The woman placed the rags evenly over the piled wood, circling the area to make sure the old dress covered the tip of the branches. Blinking himself out of confusion, Alucard’s eyes followed her movements with precision as she lifted her hands to the heavens. Her neck strained to tilt her head up as far as it could go and she held it there, unmoving. Her lips opened and her voice poured forth, her harsh voice echoing throughout the clearing.

“O New Moon!” the witch called in an emotional tone. “Tonight begins an era of my new life, as I declare my past self dead and void. Fulfill my conditions and give me the strength to begin anew! I sacrifice my clothes, the only thing left on my back that clings me to my past, to you!”

Her voice quivered and quieted as she finished speaking and her head dipped in silence, nothing but her quiet breaths racking her body sounding in the air. Undeterred, Alucard put one paw forward before she sniffed and threw her head back up, thrusting her hands higher above her head.

“God!” she yelled with mad rage and angst, her body trembling. “You alone Know I did nothing to choose this path in my life, but I am stuck with it! There is no way out for my soul and no one came to my aid in the abyss. I am at my last option and I ask for Your forgiveness one last time.”

Forgiveness, was it? Then she truly did commit heinous acts of sorcery in the past, though he had never heard a witch mention the name of God. They were known to be the enemies and sinners against His will. A rogue apprentice, perhaps.

She moved after her cries to God died down, taking a few shaky steps forward before straightening. Her naked body shone in the cool tones of the night, illuminating her as a wood nymph in the cover of darkness. The woman moved twice around the wood, completing two circles and returned to her former position. Alucard saw her hands move in slow motion and he acted the same, his body reacting with the same sluggish movements, as she cupped her hands together to her mouth and blew.

Just as the flames reached the wood, his sword swung forward and sliced at her body. She stumbled in shock and rolled onto the ground as he leaped above her form, eyes shining. Gasping, the witch flipped her knees to her chest and thrust instinctively. Her feet met his chest with a swift kick, knocking the wind out of him as his body flew earthwards, landing harshly on his side. He recovered quickly, growling loud as he got to his feet to pound towards her form again.

The witch, however, was no longer on her back but on her feet, lips curling in a similar growl to his. She eyed his charging form with a still figure and when he was close enough, she outstretched her arms and tackled his neck, sending them both to the ground. They wrestled for a bit, Alucard’s claws trying to get purchase on release while the woman stubbornly clung to his neck as her backside was repeatedly slammed into the sharp weeds. No matter how many times, he pushed his weight against her hold, she didn’t release him. Instead, with each struggle, he felt the pressure of sharp nails digging farther beneath his fur. She meant to pierce his throat with her bare hands and strangle him lifeless.

Having no choice as his energy withered, Alucard swiftly detransformed back into a man and felt the tight hold on his neck slacken momentarily. 

“Wha--” the witch could barely finish her sentence before he promptly lifted his weight onto his feet and arms to drop himself against her body. She wheezed and choked under his heavy form and he stayed there, elbowing his arms into her ribs to spare a few more seconds of her faint state.

When he rose to float above her and caught his sword in hand, she was still wheezing softly, unmoving from her backside as her eyes glazed over. He trained his eyes to focus solely on her face as he was once again reminded that she had burned her clothes. His head whirled around. The fire! Now that his opponent was distracted, he could see that the wood was currently engulfed in flames, the fires licking and reaching heavenwards, but never really consuming the branches. The fire was not destroying the wood.

His ear twitched when a sound rustled beneath him and he turned his attention back to the witch, who was now struggling to get up despite the sharp little spikes of grass impaling her back. Without another word, he settled his boot onto her chest, kicking her back into the ground with a groan. He could’ve broken her ribs, but he did need her to talk. For now.

“Extinguish the fire.” He spoke softly, but with an alluring firmness that could not be refused. 

The witch wrinkled her nose and blinked up at his form wearily, studying his silhouette. No doubt he was difficult to view, the way he stood in front of the blazing bonfire with all shadows contouring his face. She glanced down at his foot ledged between her breasts then back at his eyes. Holding his stare, she spit on his black boot.

The saliva still connected with her lip as she spoke, “No man tells me what to do.”

Alucard curled his lip in disgust. The witch looked smug, obviously feeling clever after such a crafty remark before he swiftly delivered a sharp blow to her neck, choking her. He held his foot there, pressuring her windpipe every now and then like a pump and watched her face contort horrid expressions as she choked on her gasps for air.

He leaned over her face so she was sure to see him clearly. “As you are in my territory, you will do as I say,  _ witch _ .” He spit the last word for her to hear his anger within it.

Alleviating his foot slightly for her to answer him, she hacked out a few chest-wrenching coughs, nearly withering beneath him as he waited. Her eyes quivered, at a loss of what to do next as he saw her plan fail terribly before her. This is one of the few moments where he relished dominance.

“Since you are unable to speak, I will act for you.” Alucard lifted his sword above her face as she flinched violently before he released his sword to hover above. “You will tell me how to stop the fire.”

The witch watched the magical weapon with bated breath, her eyes flickering from his face back to the sword before she swallowed. “You...you can’t stop it,” her voice was hoarse like an old woman. “Once the New Moon’s dance has begun, it must be seen through.”

He looked at her beneath his nose, studying her face for any fickle signs. She was nervous, yes, but why lie at the brink of certain death? Instead of answering, he turned his back to her and walked towards the bonfire, which was still raging as strong as ever. A small grunt sounded and a swift iron whistled after. “I wouldn’t make any sudden moves if I were you.” he called without looking back. “Move again and it’ll be the last you’ll ever make.” He continued towards the flames, but didn’t hear anything again. As he approached it, he didn’t sense the usual heat that flames radiated when ignited. Not sensing any danger, he extended his gloved hand to one of the sticks and attempted to tug it out. 

The moment his fingers wrapped around the stick, a small shock flowed through his arm, causing him to stagger back. Holding his wrist with his other hand, he peered at his shocked palm, flexing it experimentally. Nothing seemed to be damaged physically, but he was dealing with magic. And he felt something change.

He half-turned to command her to undo her magic, only to see the witch’s face painted in white horror. “Wh-what have you done?!” As expected, he must have meddled with the magical process of her scheme.

He frowned deeply and faced her fully as he slowly walked towards her again. “What have  _ I _ done?”

“Did you touch it?” she asked, ignoring his question. 

“I grabbed a stick, yes.” He lifted his hand to show that it was still attached to him. “You must have warded the branches to be untouchable because I can’t get a hold on them.”

With a loud and exaggerated groan, the witch let her head fall back into the brittle grass. She seemed to forget about the hovering sword between her eyes as she covered her eyes with her palms, rubbing them in disbelief. “No, no, no…” she moaned. “You’ve ruined everything.”

Grasping the hilt of his sword once again and hovered over her neck, Alucard placed one foot on her thigh, flattening it to the ground while his other foot re-settled beneath her collarbone. “I will not beg or plead with you. You will simply follow my orders because this is the last chance you have to live. Extinguish your magic and I will release you. You will never return to this area lest I slit you down the middle and bite out your heart.”

The witch removed her hands from her face as she glared up at Alucard with furious eyes. “You think your threats impress me, wolf? I have been surrounded by brute men twice your size my entire life. Had you not caught me off guard, I’d fuck you over right now and you’d be pleading like a babe for your life.”

He pressed his heel warningly into her sternum. “Mind your tongue, woman. Spit another crass remark and I will slice out your tongue to show you how long it is.”

The witch curled her lip with a snarl, but said nothing rude back. “What do you want from me? What have I done to you that you beat me so?”

“You invade  _ my _ territory, set up magical wards within  _ my _ forest, and now you stand here and tell me that you would allow any stranger to conduct evil magics near your home?”

Her face was impervious to his claim. “You really must be a wolf because you sound very stupid right now.” Alucard’s sword swished in the air. “I mean! You’re talking to a witch, for Christ’s sake! These things are normal for me.”

His lashes fluttered as he closed his eyes slowly, gripping the hilt tighter with his gloves stretching. “I will not repeat myself again. Extinguish your mark upon my land and get out.”

This time, it was the witch’s turn to steady her annoyance. “For fuck’s sake...I can’t! Neither of us can extinguish the bonfire. It has been completed. We aren’t allowed to put the fire out.”

“Why not?” His eyes opened to meet hers, holding the same flame and anguish that reflected in his own. She spoke firmly, her teeth grinding against her tongue.

“If we put out the fire, we will both die.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, next chapter is gonna be so HIGH with sexual tension, you will not breathe 😳
> 
> How do you guys like where this is going so far? The comments bring the next chapter faster! o.o
> 
> p.s. i'll be using 2pov from now on to make things easier. I just wanted y'all to have a dramatic entrance :D


	4. You're: Rude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alucard learns about the ritual's purpose and eventually settles for the easiest option: to deal with the consequences established with your magic as you cope with his cold demeanor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had so much fun writing this chapter. It's hella long, too, so I hope you guys like it because the next chapter might take a while to develop. I REALLY appreciate everyone's comments and kudos, it really fuels future chapters quicker! 
> 
> There's tons of cursing, and of course, the promised tension. And angst, a little angst 👀

“If we put out the fire, we will both die.”

Alucard blinked down at you, the words swimming in his mind like a fog clearing through murky waters. Now that he thought about it, he sensed a faint weight on his heart, but didn’t think that it could possibly be related to you. His foot loosened its pressure on your chest, allowing you to inhale sharply. “What do you mean, ‘we’ll both die’?” He spoke quietly, but the sound seemed to reverberate in the emptiness of the clearing.

Giving a few harsh puffs while his foot was still on your chest, you tried your best to rasp out the words. “It means exactly what I said it means,” you scowled up at his figure, ignoring the floating blade dangerously pointed at your forehead. 

He leaned over his knee, as if relaxing his weight over a rock and your voice died down. A faint dizziness enveloped your being as your head throbbed with pain and his figure became blurry to you. “You think this is a joke, don’t you?”

You couldn’t breathe normally, now attempting to heave your chest for gulps of air, but his heavy boot stayed put no matter how hard you tried to inhale. “If you could shove off my body, I’d appreciate that a lot.” The words had come out a little more rude than you’d intended and you awaited the plunge of the floating sword.

“You’re not going anywhere until you explain everything that’s going on here.”

You closed your eyes, feeling the headache subside a bit. Why wasn’t he feeling the sensations you felt? Did the ritual not work the way you thought it did? Better make your last words count. “I mean, besides for the fact that you  _ are _ standing over my naked body, I suppose this is a fine way to talk to women.” Too many words, your head fell limp in the grass behind you.

He hardly registered your remark as his neck began to heat slightly with the realization that, yes, he was indeed trampling a naked woman on the ground. Nevertheless, his face remained unperturbed as he alleviated his pressure on your chest, feeling a bit dazed. “I don’t think it matters to the animals of the forest whether their next meal is clothed or not.”

“Ugh, what don’t you understand, wolf?” you gasped at him as the same fury flamed in your eyes from before. You forgot about the lack of air from before and continued to rebuke him regardless. “If I die, you die with me! Whether your blade slices through my body or if I succumb to disease, it doesn’t matter. Your life is now linked with mine.” 

There, that was the best way to put it. If his intrusion on the ritual wasn’t enough to trigger the link, then maybe spelling it out for the brute was the key. His face was unmoved, no show of faint headaches or need for air.

“Why?’

You wanted to roll your eyes. “Let me up. I promise I won’t run away or attack you. I can’t do either anyways. It’s clear that you are the better opponent in battle.”

Alucard considered your plea for a moment, a long moment that seemed like eras passing, as you watched his face remain passive, his mind racing. Then, his foot was off of your chest and you quickly braced your forearms behind you, lifting yourself with difficulty. He stepped a few paces back to watch you with sharp eyes, averting his gaze from your body and instead narrowing in on your face. You groaned and slumped forward, muttering about your back pain before getting on your feet with a wobble.

When your form was recovered, you turned to eye him up and down, settling at his coat for a long time before he snapped, “What do you want?”

“Give me your coat.” You outstretched your hand, almost like a child expecting a candy.

“No.”

“Please give me your coat,” you tried again, nearly spitting out the ‘please’.

His shoulders stiffened. “You’re not in a position to be making demands of me.”

“Well, not how I see it,” you retorted with an exasperated look. “I’m not discussing anything with you naked, even if you are just a wolf.”

“Oh for God’s… I’m not a wolf, you stupid witch.” he sneered at you, his tone colder than the snow around you. “Are you really that daft? I must have given you too much credit for pulling off such a distraction.”

You stared at him blankly. Oh...Was he a wizard then? “Uhm...there are many shapeshifters..” you mumbled, looking to the fire to hope it’ll hide your apparent stupidity. He scoffed, shaking his head in disbelief. You felt the frustration oozing off of him and placed a foot back when he glanced back at you.

“You had better know what you’re talking about. For it to be nothing but the absolute truth. If not, I can take my time to torture it out of you,” he promised darkly as his eyes glinted. “Which I'll have you know I don't do often.”

You smiled as if to placate him, but inside you paused. His tone was as serious as any soldier, and he unquestionably seemed like a man of his word. You reached out once more, leaving his threat unaddressed. “That's very nice, little man. Now, if you please, the coat. Unless you're afraid of your balls freezing over and falling off in the spring weather, then by all means, keep it.”

His sword whistled through the air and you stiffened before realizing it was sliding back into its master’s sheath, swiftly and without stutter. You watched him exhale through his nostrils and shuffle his tailcoat off of his shoulders, observing as his arms worked beneath his white shirt before he slipped out of the sleeves. He bunched up the coat and shoved it at you. “Talk quickly and hold the clever comments.”

Giving a small smile as you inhaled the coat, you nearly sighed at the musky scent before slipping it around your shoulders, the coat’s size one too many times broader than your own frame. The fire crackled around the fresh wood, indicating the ritual’s installment as you both stood silently in each other’s company, waiting. You needed to alert the man across you about the links within the ritual’s conditions so that he wouldn’t be unnecessarily surprised when something happened between you two. You couldn’t reveal everything though, yet that was the most difficult part about this entire conversation: the truth.

“I suppose I must start with the basics,” you started gently, flopping the ends of the sleeves off your fingers. “Where to begin though…”

“The beginning.”

You glared at him, all traces of softness gone. “Yeah, no shit, professor. There’s just so much information that I’m not entirely sure what to start with.” A slight breeze flitted through the clearing and you held in a shiver, looking down in thought only to realize you had forgotten to cover your body with the lapels. Trying to be as subtle as possible, you shrugged the front of the coat further in front of your torso and grasped the ends, buttoning them around your form. “Oh, I know. Since you know what I am and you’ve tracked me thus far, tell me what you know. I can expand from that.”

His scowl seemed to be set in his face and you thought if he didnt frown so much, you’d find him very attractive. “There’s not much I wish to divulge to you, seeing as you are an invader upon my property, so let’s put it this way: I ask the questions and you answer,”

Finding courage to roll your eyes, you reply, “Didn't you do that from the start?”

Ignoring your quip, he gripped the hilt of his sword, the light of the fire raging as strong as ever to illuminate his sharp features. You held in a gasp. He really was ethereal. “What is the true purpose of this fire?”

You nodded softly. Of course, this is probably what he meant by the beginning, seeing as this is all he stumbled upon in your journey. Easy. “This is an ancient ritual known as the New Moon dance. On the night of the new moon, there is a secret power that, if done in proper order, can release a wave of energy into your life to work alongside your deepest desires.”

His face didn’t change with understanding, or shock, much to your disappointment. You so loved it when you unnerved men with knowledge and surprise. So he must've known this already. “Why doesn't this fire emit any heat?” he continued.

“That's because the fire isn't meant for the physical world,” you answered, tired of the amateur questions. This was child’s play. “It's simply there to illuminate the night where the luminance of the moon is absent.”

He paused in thought to look over towards the bonfire. He stayed there watching the flames lick and combine the wooden branches, yet never consuming them. “Then how did it burn your clothes?”

You restrained a laugh. This is where his mind must have muddled. How cute. “Well, in order to bring down the power of the moon, there needs to be an unbroken connection between the body and mind, to allow the moon's aura to pour into our whole being.” you explained. “It’s a sacrifice of sorts. We abandon our modesty for raw power and pray that it will be accepted.”

He wrinkled his nose. “Sounds like a cult.”

You rolled your eyes again, this time unafraid. “We’re witches, for God’s sake. Do you really need to emphasize that constantly? It’s like you've never met a witch before.”

You paused your speech to peek at his face. His silence and pointed stare told you as much that, yes, this was his first encounter with your kind. Unprompted, your throat let out an unladylike noise as you gawked at him. “Really?”

“I've met people who practice magical acts, but never a witch.” He spoke of the term like it was a sickly plague. Even though you've never met him before, the sharp tone momentarily needled into your heart. It was offensive, and you knew witches didn’t hold a great reputation, but pride was pride and you seeked to mend your wounded one with a retort.

“Congratulations, is this the part where we kiss and make up?” you prodded sourly. His glare answered you just as much, but you scoffed and tugged the coat tighter around your body, not wanting to meet his eyes.

“What is your reason for performing the ritual?” he asked gravely, the deep baritone of his voice sending goosebumps down your spine. “You speak of raw power from a celestial being. That's too dangerous for one little witch to have. What do you intend to do with it?”

Your head dipped as you frowned lowly and studied the dirt lodged beneath your toenails. You just met this man, there's no way you could tell him everything about your future! Then, again, he bested you quickly in a brawl and his sword was no joke. By then, all your sacrifices on the journey to this very moment would have been all for naught. Your escape from the hut would have been for nothing and your goal would be forever forgotten.

“You understand,” you began slowly, your eyes still trained on your bare feet. “That you and I are strangers. There’s too many secrets between us to simply divulge in one sitting. I can’t reveal everything right now, but I will tell you the gist of what’s happening to us as I speak.”

Lifting your head, your eyes met Alucard's intense gaze. He looked like he was about ready to rip out your throat even though he stayed quiet. “You and I are bound by a special link that ensnares our mind and soul. This happens when members of the New Moon ritual perform a frenzied dance at the peak of the moon’s height. That is why you will die if you kill me.”

There were too many emotions written in the man’s eyes but he didn’t show much on his face. He was certainly confused for a moment, but it soon gave way to an angry and hateful look you knew all too well from people. There were certain parts in your words that you could see his brain mulling over and over again to make sure they were what you said they were before properly responding to you.

“Dancing initiates the ritual…” He spoke carefully and you held your breath. “And members of the ritual must dance to…” Stopping suddenly, he snapped his head to you with blazing eyes. You heard the stretching of leather but couldn’t pinpoint the sound’s location since you refused to tear away from his piercing stare.

He jabbed a finger at you accusingly. “We didn’t dance in any way.”

Exhaling, you steadied yourself and gripped the cloak tighter around your fingers. “I suppose not in the conventional way, no. We did, however, move in a frenzied manner and that probab-”

“I get it.” he growled. “Why would the ritual link the members? What purpose does  _ that _ serve?”

This is where you became slightly fidgety, your toes curling into the brittle grass as they grasped at the stalks. You chewed the inside of your cheek, stalling because you did not really want to answer his question. To Hell with it. “Well...you can make a wish. A condition, of sorts, upon your power...And well, mine was...not what I expected it to be.”

The clearing was so silent, you heard your own blood roar in your ears. You held a tentative gaze with him and it stung your eyes. His bright eyes almost made you regret coming this far.

“What do you mean?”

Here goes nothing.  _ He can’t kill you _ , you convinced yourself in an attempt to calm your racing heart.  _ You’ve said it too many times for the activation not to kick in _ .

“I wished for a companion, one who would help me heal and move on from my past life.”

You waited, waited for the man to erupt in a furious rage, for him to beat you with the butt of his sword, slicing at your arms and legs, maybe even breaking a rib or two as he swallowed the information you gave him. It wasn’t completely true, but to the core desire, it was the gist. The least you expected was for him to abandon you to live this out in peace.

His footsteps shouldn’t have surprised you at this point in your thoughts, but they did. He treaded towards you with a gloom over his face and stopped in front of you, arm’s length away. He stared down at you with bright golden eyes, and now that you could see his visage clearer, your eyes confirmed his beautiful state. Even when upset, he was angelic, unseemly to be a violent character and you momentarily wondered why you ever thought of him as such.

He inhaled, looking down at you from his nose. “How long will it last?”

You stared at him incredulously. The softness in his voice startled you immensely and you didn’t respond too smartly. “Wh--I, uh...it depends, really.” His gleaming eyes frightened you for a moment before you interjected. “Wait! No, I’m wrong, I do know. This power stands as a collected loan for a full thirty day period until the next new moon. After that, it fades along with another New Moon dance.”

Alucard studied your face before leaning forward a little, causing you to dip your chin inwards. He smelled of roasted grains and leather and you wanted to inhale him forever. “And you’re certain you’re telling the whole truth.” It wasn’t a question; it was a forced confirmation.

“Yes.” you replied without a second beat. 

He stayed like that for a few heartbeats (you counted) before leaning back and lurching forward again. His neck was outstretched towards you, causing you to yelp a bit, before staggering back yourself, his head following you. “What the fuck are you doing?!” you cried as you backpedaled into a tree, Alucard’s body helplessly following his head.

“I’m not doing anyth--!” He struggled to dig his heels into the dry dirt beneath him and when he managed to stay firm in his place, it was your turn to fly forward into his chest. Something magnetic was tugging you to him and him to you. He grasped your arms and shoved you back from his body, only to have your head snap back and loll towards his figure again. His own head rushed forward on its own, slamming into your forehead painfully.

Your eyesight was blurry for a second as you rubbed your bruised head with muttered curses, all the meanwhile looking for the man. He gritted his teeth, baring a pair of white and sharp teeth, fostering a sharp gasp from your lips. He glanced towards you at the sound, but your hands were already covering your mouth in shock, his cuff sleeves sliding down your arms.

“You’re…” you could hardly breathe as your words stuttered out. “You’re a vampire.”

His lips tightened into a sharp frown and he slowly straightened to peer at you. Neither of you moved as the words hung in the air like a weight, moving down on your mind with every passing second. You lowered your hands to reveal a mirthless smile. “Just my luck.”

Alucard felt exasperated by now, tired of everything that was happening. It should have been so easy, nothing too complicated. The gazelle should have been digesting in his stomach by now and her bones cracking in his teeth. But no, she was you, a foolish witch, who toyed with dark arts like it was a joke. For fun, wishes, and all the sunshine in the world. He could sense that you weren’t telling him everything about the consequences of the ritual, but he’d deal with that later. There was a more pressing issue at hand here.

Ignoring your comment about his revelation, he held your stare. “You’re hiding things from me. Things about the ritual that you didn’t explain.”

Your smile disappeared and your lips curled into a snarl as your nails pressed into the sleeves of his coat. “Ahh, I see how it is. I’m honest with someone, for once, and  _ this _ is what I get?”

“I just want to know what’s going on. Everything.”

Exasperated, you threw up your hands. “I don’t know everything! I’m not God, I’m not the moon, and I’m certainly not the pope!” 

You sighed and let your hands fall to your thighs, your tone changing to a tired mumble. “Look, I’m not entirely sure what’s going on. This is not how the ritual is supposed to go, no thanks to you.” Alucard’s nose curled at your accusation, but you didn’t pause to acknowledge his expression. “When rituals go awry, things happen. Strange links that shouldn’t even be allowed in the magical world.”

You sank down to your knees, tugging Alucard down with you as he fumbled uncharacteristically to meet your pace. “Hold for a moment--agh, stop! This is what I speak of. Why am I pulled along to your every move?”

He’s right, something was amiss here. You were both linked, yes, but could it be possible that maybe you were linked by some sort of physical magnet? You felt like you already knew the answer, but just to be sure…”I can try to see what’s going on here if you sit still. My magic will reach out so try not to jerk suddenly, okay?” 

Giving a reluctant nod, Alucard settled on the ground, trying not to splay his legs out. You closed your eyes and instantly felt a hum between you and the man. Something warmed itself around the expanse of your throat and you mentally recoiled, the sensation of being bound sending a bad taste in your mouth. You did not like this feeling at all. You peeked your eyes open to see an icy collar with a thick chain enclosing between you and Alucard. He watched with observing eyes as you watched a collar materialize itself around his own throat as well. Your breaths were bated with suspense and no one moved for a moment, just staring at the new accessories connecting you two.

You moved first, giving an experimental tug with your head as you watched his own tilted forward suddenly, the chain straining. It was full of twisted sorcery, not completely physical or magical.

Scowling at you for yanking his head forward, Alucard leaned back slowly as your postures evened out and gazed at the chain while it crinkled and scraped. His hand moved languidly, lifting to touch the chain with cautious movements. The moment he touched it, you felt a burning sensation at your fingertips. He noticed you jerk a bit, and pulled back to watch you. The touch was gone and you felt nothing. You both stared at one another before his face fell.

“Fuck,” he groaned beneath his strands of hair. You agreed.

“I...I think I figured it out.” you began, swallowing harshly. “The more tension there is between us, the more resistance it will cause. Now, we are really connected by this link. Both physical and emotional sensations will be felt by both parties.”

He lifted his head to glare at you , though the ferocity wasn’t there anymore. He looked very tired and sad. “You think?” he bit out. 

You didn’t bother replying, only sinking further into the warmth of his coat as he sighed heavily and looked up. He closed his eyes slowly, and sat there, breathing as if he had all the time in the world, to breathe and unwind. You realized something as you watched him sit there. If physical and emotional feelings were to be shared, then what was stopping the mental bridge to be broken? You couldn’t risk sharing the same thoughts and mental state of another person. Plus, this man was a vampire. Creatures of his kind weren’t exactly known to be the sanest of people.

“What’s your name?” you asked him.

The man sat there for a long time, continuing to breathe and sit there, as if he didn’t hear your question. Just when you were about to reiterate, he opened his eyes in the glow of the bonfire, piercing into your deep soul. “Alucard,” he replied with a hoarse whisper.

You perked up. “I know that name. Alucard of Wallachia, the anti-Dracula. The old witch told me about you, dhampir.” He gazed at you, unmoving as he watched you from beneath his locks.

“Really now?” His voice was predatory, silent and calm. You decided to ignore it.

“Oh, yes.” you confirmed, sitting up to cross your legs. “Back in my town, we’ve been told of stories of a sleeping soldier that lies under Gresit in wait to save Wallachia from destruction.”

Alucard hummed in thought, his eyes traveling up and down your figure. Unconsciously, you curled your shins in further. Was your vagina peeking out? No, you didn’t feel any breeze and you certainly didn’t want to openly check. He interrupted your thoughts with another question, “Were there Speakers in your town?”

“Yes.” you blinked owlishly at him, not really understanding how he knew of them. They weren’t famous or anything, and certainly hard to come by, being nomads and all. “How did you know?”

“The prophecy of Gresit’s sleeping messiah is one that is carried by the Speakers alone,” he responded factually as he shifted his knee to rest his elbow on it. “It’s not an unknown story.”

You looked away in thought. The old hag taught you about several stories that the Speakers keep among themselves, and you’ve visited Gresit once, but you’ve never known the story to be a widespread acclamation. Perhaps you’ve been hermitting in the hut for too long...good thing you ran away.

You felt eyes on you as you turned back to Alucard. He was watching you with narrow eyes, his lashes casting shadows on his high cheekbones. “What?” you asked snootily. Tone it down, you told yourself. He’s half-vampire, for fuck’s sake. Even if he didn’t kill you, he could see this newfound link to another meal to feast on.

He frowned deeper and gestured to the chain. “What can be done about this? I don’t know enough magic to release it and you’re the only one in this situation that has enough knowledge about this catastrophic.” Jesus, you wouldn’t call it that extreme. For you this was a minor inconvenience. Thirty days was nothing to you. Perhaps you could even use the link to your advantage, should the opportunity come up.

You spread your hands in defeat. “As much as I hate to admit it and I know you will disagree, but for now, there’s only one opt--”

“If you suggest we live together, that’s out of the question.”

Sighing, you raised a finger pointedly. “Hear me out. I do not like men, no more than you like humans. There’s no need to question my fighting skills, as you are beyond me in years of experience. However, if we work together as best as we can, I believe the strength of the chain will wear off in time. Perhaps even tomorrow morning should we succeed.”

His lips were sealed shut as he listened to you speak. He seemed to be interested in what you had to say, though it was obvious he wasn’t keen about it. You continued, “If you’re worried about me lying, or using my magic to harm you in any way, you’ll feel it. My thoughts and emotions will come to you as quickly as your own, and now that we are linked, you will sense it like a weight on your mind. I promise you now, I swear not to hurt you in any way until the thirty days are over.”

Alucard looked unimpressed with your claim, but you channeled your thoughts towards his mind, hoping your honesty would ring through. His arms tensed for a moment and he looked to the side in thought before sliding his eyes back to your face. He must have gotten your directed thought of honesty as he searched your face through and through for any hints of a facade or deception. And you let him. You knew once the portals of thought and feeling were properly channeled through the link, there would be no need for a strain to search. It would flow naturally.

At least, that’s how the old witch put it.

You prayed to God that, this time, she was not pulling your leg on this spell.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Alucard had set several conditions to your very unwelcome stay at his home, where you were both currently walking towards. By the time he was done with them, the fire had dimmed to mere embers, and though it never gave any heat in the first place, the magical glow it provided for you was now gone, making you feel colder than before. Besides, it was nearly midnight and you were exhausted. You both wobbled clumsily to the bundle so you could retrieve it before you allowed him to guide the way in silence. You made sure not to trip over anything so the chain wouldn't strain the both of you, but you felt uneasy about your arrangement with him.

He was strict with his conditions, but in order for your thirty days to pass quicker and without either of you killing each other, he set his own boundaries and you had no choice but to agree. He firmly stated that you weren't allowed to touch him, wander about without his permission, and you had to stay within his vision at all times, save for the breaks to relieve yourself. He didn't mention anything about food or sleeping arrangements and the way you saw it tonight, you two were meant to share a bed. Something he never openly disagreed with, but was clearly not in the mood to discuss.

You followed him into a deep part of the woods that you never seemed to pass before, studying the landmarks around you just in case anything happened for you to escape. There were trees that were thick and bare but slowly blooming their first leaves with lush green as the oncoming spring rapidly approached. You were close behind his heel and it vaguely reminded you of the day before, when he snapped at your hind legs before slicing his fangs into your side. You winced as your side throbbed at the memory, your hand rising to pat it before curling to your chest once more. You healed as much of the wound as you could, but ultimately opted to save your energy and magic for the ritual. 

Your gaze fell onto Alucard as he walked forward without so much as checking to see if you were still beside him. You shivered and rubbed your fingers together, wishing you could summon a little fire, but not wanting to alert his defenses, you instead stuck them into your armpits of the coat. It was chilly outside but near him, it seemed even colder. Something about him was so far off, as beautiful as he looked, and you could sense that he was broken and sad inside. If you were creative enough, you would have weaved a few scenarios where the reason for his loneliness was a lost lover, a grieving child, or a helpless warrior. 

Or perhaps all three combined. What a thriller.

Passing under a few branches, the dense forest suddenly gave way to a wide clearing, similar to the one you found, but much broader in range and greenier than you’d expected. Looming before you in the darkness, you could make out a fantastic figure of architecture that swarmed with old magic and ancient history. You bit back a gasp. It couldn't be…

“Castlevania.” you exhaled.

As if sensing your wide-eyed stupor, Alucard finally glanced over his shoulder at you. “You've seen my father's castle before?”

You shook your head, not breaking your gaze from the giant structure. “I've only ever read about it in books and heard tales of its glory, but this...” you swallowed hard. “This is something entirely different.”

Your response reminded him of Sypha’s initial reaction at the castle, and the thought warmed him a bit before he concealed it, praying you wouldn't catch on. He paused to watch you out of the peripheral of his eye, but you didn’t turn to return his look, your eyes wildly scanning the castle in a very childlike manner. Its grandeur and awesomeness overwhelmed you, and he felt a foreign rush through his blood, as if he were getting excited, but the feeling was not his own.

This is what you must’ve meant when you said you were linked.

Still, his conditions were in place and you saw his adamant ruling with them, so nothing should go wrong. For now, at least. He still didn’t trust you, being a witch and all, and he was still very put off by the night’s events and everything leading up to it. His life was nothing but a tragedy and he found it to be a very cruel joke, to whomever was directing it.

Folding his hands behind his back, he started forward, the chain gently tugging you along from your gawking state. “Come along now, you’ll drool if you stare too long.”

You exhaled a breathless laugh.. “How could I not?” you skipped after him, ignoring the chill of the night as the warm rush of excitement poured through your veins. “This is the legendary castle of Dracula that travels without moving, using a mechanism that-”

He whirled around with blazing eyes and your voice died abruptly. Something about the castle pissed him off and you didn’t know what you said to set it off. You froze as he spoke in a dark, gravely tone. “I know how the castle works. It’s not moving anymore. Move. Along.”

Without a second beat, he turned back to the castle with long strides and you struggled to keep up with him. The chain was definitely not making it easier for you to follow him, but he didn’t seem to care about your uneven pace behind him as he marched for the monstrous castle doors. A putrid stench hit your nose and you choked, instantly recognizing the smell.

Human flesh. Rotting human flesh.

Your magic immediately drew your eyes to the location of the scent, the stench of death lingering in your nostrils as you spotted them. Two shadows of humans, wrapped in linen nightgowns of the night, staked from one end to the other and caked in dry blood. It was difficult to see in the dark of the moonless night, but your magic warped the images clear enough for you. There were unfinished ghosts around this area, swarming the entrance of the castle in lost exile and you pitied them for a moment. You sensed a battle between the soil and ether, neither realms wishing to take responsibility for the dead, which seemed strange to you. The earth always accepted the bodies of the dead and the heavens took souls of all measures, good and bad, sinner and the righteous. And those in between.

A weight of anger and sorrow settled in your mind, but you weren’t sure if it was simply the wayward souls reaching out to you or Alucard’s reaction to the dead. The darker marks on their necks whispered doubt in your mind, that they were dead before spiked, as per Dracula’s traditional warning to outsiders. Killed in their sleep? Wrung out of bed to be murdered? Or maybe followed outside after relieving themselves in the middle of the night, only to be slain in their nightclothes? The possibilities were endless, but you decided not to pry for now. 

Something about these bodies told you they were no strange people to Alucard. They must have known him, insulted him in some way. This was always the fate of the spiked bodies.

The smell of the corpses didn’t seem to bother Alucard but he did slow his pace to climb the steps to the entrance, allowing you to soak in the sight of his front lawn decor. The message sank in clear to you and you allowed yourself to stay silent for the meantime. The air around you was solemn, all traces of excitement and energy depleted, and you climbed the stone stairs one at a time. Your feet clapped against the tile softly, contrasting his heavy footfalls from his black boots, no other sound in the air. It was miserable and lonely, even with four bodies around.

You figured the dead would provide better company to you than the icy dhampir.

With a groan, the doors wailed open as Alucard pushed against them, leading you inside the castle. The foyer was unlike anything you’ve seen before. Why, even the grandest cathedrals barely held a candle to the awe of the castle's interior, dim as it was. The heavy doors slammed behind you suddenly, causing you to gasp lightly and bunch the coat tighter to your chest. Your feet padded along the floor sheepishly until you nearly fell into Alucard’s back. You caught yourself before he turned around to gaze at you.

His golden eyes scanned your figure slowly, languidly and you felt naked under his stare. Not physically naked, because without his coat, you were. But the same way the old witch looked at you: deeply and past your physical body. Analyzing you and studying you with interest, or disgust, whatever the mood suited her that day. And now, he did both. How, you would never understand. He probably had that way of making women feel weak under his eyes and knew of its power upon them, using it to his advantage. It was a skilled trick, something you’d have to master one day.

The intense gaze settled on your throat and you were mentally shocked into remembering that vampires had an obsession with necks, even if his high collar cornered yours. Stupidly, you swallowed. Then he spoke, low and steady. “The chain didn’t extend.”

Taking a few moments to snap out of his stare, you glanced down at the chain. He was right, nothing changed. If anything, the collar felt a bit tighter on you, now that you thought about it. “No, it didn’t.”

He sighed and dropped his gaze. “I thought on the way here it would loosen somewhat.”

“How much did you wager?” you asked curiously. You wanted to see how stupid his answer was.

Sighing through his nose, he looked up at the high ceiling as he calculated something in his head. “Oh, I don’t know...at least, fifty feet.” You stared at him as if he just fell from the moon. He glanced back at you defensively and you put effort into your cynicism, praying he felt as idiotic as he sounded right now.

“You’re joking.” 

“I don’t joke often.”

“Then you’re stupid.”

His lip curled in annoyance at your quip and you rolled your eyes, rubbing your forehead. “Alucard, are you insane? Did you not register any I told you back in the clearing?”

“Spending time with you will slowly drive me to that state.” He paused sarcastically before leaning forward menacingly. “Oh, wait. I take it back. I feel like I already am. Do you feel it, witch? Can you sense the insanity upon you? We’re linked, after all, tell me you feel something.”

“Shut up,” you growled. “Stop calling me witch, I have a name.”

“Not that I’m remotely interested,” He sneered with grace.  _ How the fuck did he do that? _ “But I’m not interested. You have thirty days to wear this foolish chain out, and then two things happen: either I kill you or you scurry away to another city. Is that understood?”

“Do us both a favor, you pompous piece of shit, and don’t be a pussy.” you raised your voice to a slight yell as it echoed throughout the parlor. “You call me by my name and be a fucking man, and maybe this chain will loosen enough for me to shit in peace without you watching me like a hawk.”

He let out a mirthless laugh as your harsh words crumbled into dust before him. “Indulge me then, witch.”

You waited a few moments, watching his face lean in towards you mockingly, but he was still full of blazing anger. Neither of you wanted to be here, but you knew the chain would never loosen unless one of you shifted tones for the better. You disclosed your name to him in a single beat, but it felt strange on your tongue. Hearing someone else use it would be even more odd.

Alucard’s stance changed as he slowly straightened back to his proud position, domineering the aura around you. He gazed deep into your eyes again, but you stood your ground, daring him to spit another insult your way as he absorbed your name into his mind. You sensed rapid heartbeats, combined with your own, and the thought of humanization. A channel was opening up, be it you or him. Now that it was materialized, you were no longer animal nor witch.

A human.

“Whatever.” With that, he turned again and tugged you forward, forcing you to follow him up another length of stairs and down narrow corridors, full of many doors with hidden secrets. You struggled to pace with him, but he never relented his speed, only opting to rush faster to wherever he was taking you. “Since I see this stubborn chain will not extend any further, for the time being we will have to share a bed.”

A rush of heat ran through your thighs and you hoped he didn’t sense it. He glanced over his shoulder with a look of distaste coating his eyes. The heat quickly dissipated under his stare. “I, however, refuse to sleep next to a smelling pile of garbage, so you’ll have to bathe yourself before anything else.”

You exhaled with relief. “Yes, thank you.” you replied, truly grateful for the opportunity. A bath sounded so good right now.

His head straightened forward again. “That wasn’t a gift to you.”

You gritted your teeth and pried your fists open to bite on your knuckles in silent rage. Fuck, you wanted to beat him up so badly and, this time, you directed your angry thoughts to him, letting him feel all your desire to pommel him to the ground. As expected though, he shrugged it off and whirled down another hall, snapping your body along to his. You decided to let your thoughts run wild, the words flowing between the magical chain to his end effortlessly. Whatever insult came to mind, you allowed it to come through.

_ Little bitch ass vampire pussy boy motherfucking ass-wiping bloodsucking dickless whore-- _

“Shut. Up.” he finally growled out. “I can hear you very clearly.”

You felt your cracked lips break into a devious smirk. “Ahh, so you  _ were _ ignoring me.”

“It’s something you learn to do when dealing with the retarded.”

That was it. To hell with this chain. You let out a growl of anger as you rushed forward to tackle him, his body hitting the ground with a sound ‘oof”. You smacked his shoulder blades with the sides of your fists, before he flipped over and slammed your body against the wall.  _ Not again _ , you groaned internally as he quickly shifted to face you, his eyes lined with crimson and black vibrations and he hissed sharply. He held your shoulders with a strong grip and continuously smashed your upper body into the wall, your head smacking the harsh surface behind you. Your eyes watered with pain as you felt your skull slowly giving way to a sickening crack before he stopped abruptly. 

His hands pried off of your shoulders and reached back to grip his nape, rubbing it sorely as he gritted out a moan of pain. And then it doubled instantly. He felt your sharp pains down your backside and the head-splitting ache on the back of his skull reverberating back to your own original source of pain. You both sat there, panting harshly and groaning at the shared pain, the chain between you burning cold and sizzling.

No one moved for a minute as you drank in the situation.

“Are you satisfied?” he bit out, rubbing his shoulders. “You hardly have the element of surprise.”

You glared at him half-heartedly, too exhausted to retort fully. “I wasn’t trying to surprise you. I was trying to discipline you, you and your rude tongue.”

He sniffed at you with a degrading look. “What, now you’re my nanny to train my mannerisms? If I recall correctly, it was you who was spitting out the most crass remarks the moment you spoke.”

“Whatever.” you replied, not bothering to address the situation. “I guess we know how the physical link works now.”

“You guess…” Alucard repeated after you and huffed, shaking his head before grabbing your arms again to pull you to your feet. “Get up. I’m tired and you still need to clean yourself.”

He settled you on your feet harshly before you wrung your arm out of his tight grasp, rubbing the spot where his grip tightened on you and scowled. “Don’t  **touch** me.” you spit out with venom dripping from your words.

“You really are a child,” he snapped as he flipped his head back, golden locks whipping your face. “Even when you broke the first rule of my conditions, you still have the  naïve gall to tell me not to touch you.” As much as you wanted to deny it, he was right. You’d leaped on  _ him _ , all he did was react to your profound anger. Perhaps you even deserved all the hits.

You simply trudged behind him in silence, eyeing the cracks in the wall where you were slammed into before moving further down the hall. At this point, all your fury towards his insulting comments were reduced to fading annoyance and you felt slightly ashamed at your unruly outburst. You should have controlled your emotions better rather than letting the pointless insults get to you. You didn’t even know him, for Christ’s sake. Why were you so blown over by his nasty remarks about you? Was it perhaps he triggered painful memories of the old hag? Or maybe even the men in the brothel? Better not to dwell on it or he’d feel it all.

You hardly registered anything Alucard did when you finally reached a room that was hollowed out and marbled out, a few giant torches lit all around. A wide tub sat in the middle of the space with a spout and two handles at the base. Time became blurred as you heard him rummage around and twist something that squeaked and echoed in the hollow space before a rumbling sound produced a flush of water, bursting through the spout and filling up the tub. His hand stayed in the tub as he sat on the rim, possibly making sure it wasn’t too hot, lest the water scorch his skin as well.

He briefly glanced towards you and then again when he noticed you staring off into space. He frowned. “What are you standing there for? Strip.”

You blinked out of your dazed thoughts and turned your attention to him with a questioned look. “Huh? Oh.”

Before you weren't so shy about your naked body being exposed to another person, but now, it was different. You were linked, and he could feel every thought of yours, and you of his. Something in the aura changed. How weird it was, one minute you're tackling him to the ground to smack the shit out of him for insulting you, the next you're suddenly feeling modest about your nakedness. It could've been the fact that another man was starting up a bath for you. Had the situation been different, you would have seen the act as something intimate. 

You mutely unbuttoned the front of the coat, taking your time to slide the warm cloak off of your body as you already adapted to the musky scent. The coat pooled at your feet and you gingerly stepped out of it, taking padded little steps towards the tub with your head hung. You wished your hair was as silky and brushed as his so that it could cover your face properly without being so matted. You paused in front of the tub, waiting to get when he suddenly turned back to you and his eyes widened before snapping upwards to meet your gaze.

“For crying out loud, why are you so quiet?” He stood so he wouldn't be leveled with your belly and shook his hand of the droplets. “I didn’t even hear you.”

You chewed your lip and shrugged. “Sorry,” you mumbled, though you didn't really mean it.

He sighed tiredly and stepped to the side, presenting the bath to you. “Get in. See how it feels.”

Furrowing your eyebrows, you threw a wary look his way, confused as to why he was suddenly being considerate towards you. You sensed a bit of embarrassment, but you couldn’t pinpoint whether it was from you or him. Perhaps both. You finally tore your gaze away from him as you hitched a leg over the rim of the tub with difficulty and climbed inside. You attempted to get in smoothly with your pride intact, but the bruises on your side and back pierced through your skin, causing you to yelp and plop unceremoniously into the water. Claps of water splashed in and around the annular tub and some trickled onto the floor, dripping continuously from the rim of the tub. You felt a hand steady you back to the surface and you gasped a bit, sputtering warm bathwater. Alucard’s blurry face came into view and you could tell his white shirt was a bit soaked through as it clung to his body. His tight, toned body.

“Do you intend to make a mess of my home minutes after you enter it?” he complained and let go of you to study the spreading puddles on the tiles. Sighing, he walked over to a cabinet to retrieve something to soak up the water as you sank deeper into the tub, your face burning with embarrassment. Fuck, why did you feel this way? You  _ never _ felt embarrassed about anything, so what changed? Why did you feel like you had something to prove to him? Stupid dhampir. You mentally cursed him for making you feel this way and you wrapped your arms around your body.

He was next to you in a moment and dropped a cloth onto a puddle. He dipped his boot into it, circling it around to mop up the spill and spared a glance your way as he cleaned the mess. He noticed you made no move to wash yourself, just sitting somberly in the water with your mouth hidden beneath the surface. You were too quiet, even though he only knew you for a few hours, you were definitely a mouthful.

Leaving the cloth to soak up the puddled mess, Alucard grabbed a few bottles of soap and oils and placed them onto a stool near the tub’s head. He took one look at your tangled hair and immediately remembered he had a tool to help him with such an inconvenience. You didn’t look at him while he rummaged around the cabinet again, moving objects around to search for something. With a heave, he stood behind your head and pulled another stool for him to sit on.

“Hey,” he called to you, to which you hummed out a response. “I brought you some soap to clean your body with. Take the cloth and lather it, so you’ll be able to clean your body.”

You blinked sluggishly, the heat of the water lulling you to a dull slumber. He prodded your shoulder with a long finger, shaking you. “Wake up. You’ll sleep later. You need to clean yourself now. I’ll do your hair so this will go faster.”

“Mnph.” you grumbled, but you sat up better and reached for the cloth. Satisfied with your compliance, he rolled up his sleeves to the elbow, despite them already being soaked, and sank his hands into the water to wet them. His fingers brushed your shoulders as he pulled out of the water and you restrained a shiver, trying to focus on scrubbing your forearms. His touch was warm for a moment and you craved it. Maybe not specifically his, but someone. It’s been a long time since you’ve had any normal human contact.

You felt your hair suddenly lifting up as the air exposed to your neck began to cool you. Alucard’s heavy hand weighed the tangled hair in his palm and crunched it with his fingers before letting it drop back down to cover your neck. “I can’t work with dry hair like this.”

As tired as you were, you understood what he wanted from you. Without another word, you audibly inhaled a breath and held it as you sank down into the water, allowing it to engulf your entire body. You laid there for a beat before sitting back up with a little gasp as Alucard brushed back the crown of your head. You panted a bit as you felt something thick and warm pouring down your head and you tilted your head back, your eyes meeting his. You stared at one another, feeling the mutual sensation of a racing heart and heat rushing through your bodies before he pulled his gaze away from you and concentrated on massaging the warm liquid down your hair to its uneven ends.

Your head relaxed against the rim as Alucard worked the oil within your scalp. “How’s my hair?”

You felt him pause before his fingers wriggled again. “It’s a lot to deal with. You might have to cut some of it off because the amount of dirt and matt in here is simply ludicrous.”

“Well, I was in the woods for a long time.” you replied, closing your eyes. “I can’t remember the last time I had a proper bath.”

Alucard’s snort made you crack open your eyes again, but you forced yourself not to retort. “Even animals bathe more than you. And you were an animal, for an extended period of time, were you not?” You figured his question was meant to be mocking of some sort, yet his hands worked their way through each strand diligently.

“I was, but not for--OWWWUH! What the--” you yelped in pain, sitting up quickly to scowl at him. His face was unperturbed as he tried to pry your head forward again, a large comb between his fingers. “Calm down. It’s going to hurt a little from here on out. You have a lot of knots.”

You slumped forward to grab the washing cloth and began to scrub your body. “You could’ve told me that!”

You practically heard his eyes roll to the back of his head as he continued to comb through your hair, the brush constantly getting stuck towards the ends of your strands while he tugged on it. You always replied with a small yelp, occasionally screeching in pain, as he made his way down your length. Tears sprung to your eyes and you found it hard to concentrate on washing your body as your hands slowly jerked their way up your body and eventually catching his wrist holding the comb. “Stop,  _ stop _ ,  **_stop_ ** !” you cried out angrily at first, then suddenly broke down into a heavy sob. “It hurts, stop.”

Alucard froze for a moment, not ever expecting to see a vivacious spirit like you cry so soon, before he snatched his wrist out of your grasp. You let him go easily as your hand dropped into the water and you brought your knees to your chest, quietly crying into your body. He watched your back shift and bend, revealing the scrapes and bruises dealt onto you after your small battle with him. There were more underneath the fresh ones and his heart tugged, just for a moment, very painfully at the chords. He was at a complete loss of what to do. He wasn’t going to comfort you, that wasn’t his business, since you were strangers, but you were crying. From pain. Something about your little sobs told him it wasn’t all that physical. He must have triggered an awful memory that you dug away years ago, a memory that told the stories of the faint scars on your body.

Without another word, he pulled the long scissors from the stool and leaned forward to present them to you. You felt cool metal on your shoulder and with red eyes, lifted your damp head to peek at the tool. Your cries died down to sniffles and you shakily took the scissors from his hand, briefly noticing an encircling scar on his wrist before he pulled it away from view. You held the scissors in both hands, knowing that in any other impulsive moment, you’d stuff the sharp end of the metal deep within your chest to rust. But now...now was not the time.

You shoved the scissors back into his hands. “You do it.”

Nothing was heard except for your slow breathing, and his steady one, before he exhaled and settled the comb and scissors back onto the stool. “We’ll cut it later. Dip.”

And so continued the process. You half-heartedly rubbed your body of any dirt and some dead skin peeled off with the water’s heat affecting the scrubs you pushed down on your limbs. Alucard silently washed your hair, this time a little more gently and tugged less, mindful of your sore scalp. Nothing else was said between you two as he tapped your head to signal a head dip and your arm tiring of working back and forth over your body, but it was done. The torches in the room crackled softly as you lifted your sore body out of the water, sloshing a little when you climbed out with exhaustion weighing down your limbs.

He felt it, too, standing from his chair behind you to pass you a thicker fabric to wrap around your body and you hugged it tight to your figure, watching the droplets from your hair and body run down to coat the floor. A chair scraped next to you and he gestured for you to sit in it. He tugged your conditioned hair out of the wrap of the cloth and pulled the scissors from another stool. He paused and you sensed a question on his mind, probably wanting to ask you how much he should cut off but then the feeling disappeared as quickly as it came.

You sniffed. He’ll figure it out, he’s a big boy.

His hand grasped your hair in clumps as the sound of the scissors opened, then sharply sliced through the air with a clean sound. He snipped back and forth a few times, still holding your hair before he let go and suddenly your head lifted on its own, feeling a million times lighter. His palm ran through your fringes a little, scuffling the ends up then dropped his hand.

“It’s done.” That was all he said. No “ _ do you like it _ ?”, or “ _ how does it feel _ ?”. Just that it was done.

You stood silently and followed him out of the room into the hallways once more, shivering a little into the new air as you clutched the fabric closer to your form. Lost in your thought, you let the chain link direct you to his pace as you automatically fell behind in a reflexive gait. Now that you two weren’t lost in bickering and fury, there was a mutual silence between you both that wasn’t all that uncomfortable, just heavy. The halls themselves felt eerie with loneliness and you sensed a nostalgic memory of a family you’ve never had. You sighed.

He handed you a dark gown and you patted yourself dry before slipping the chemise over your head. His gaze was nowhere near your body as you straightened yourself out and waited for him to make the next move, which you hoped was the bed. You needed to fall asleep to this bad dream as soon as possible.

“Done?” he asked softly, still not looking at you.

“Done.” you confirmed hoarsely.

Alucard let his head turn back to you and you noticed his shirt was still damp from the bath water. He eyed you up and down and you let him, too tired to protest against anything else. Sleep was on your mind. “Excuse me then.”

You looked elsewhere while he reached for a nightgown for himself and worked to undress swiftly. You heard, clear as day, how he peeled the shirt off of his skin and let it fall to the ground with a heavy plopping sound. The clinking of belts as it, too, dropped to the floor with a clatter and the rustle of boots and trousers following. You haven’t heard a man undress this fast in a long time and a part of you missed it. You chewed the inside of your cheek and hung your head, your now washed hair curtaining your face as he slipped the nightclothes over his body.

“Come.” Alucard’s voice was firm, but laced with sleep. You peeked at him from under your hair and there he stood by the fireplace, gentle and strong at the same time, an angel in a demon’s shroud. His pale visage looked aglow under the fire’s soft illumination and you stared unabashedly. He was gorgeous, nothing you wouldn’t admit aloud but as long as you both knew it.

His frown returned for the umpteenth time that night. “What?”

Shaking your head, droplets flying a bit, you folded your hands behind your back. His eyes changed, soft demeanor gone as he stiffened. “Hands forward.”

This time, it was your turn to be confused. “What?”

“I said, hands in front of you.”

Staring at him with a questioned look, you slowly brought your hands in front of you, clasping them together. Was he about to make you his bitch or something, now that he got you into sleepwear?

He relaxed his shoulders a little, but his walk was still rigid. “Don’t hide anything from me.” He commanded with a low voice as he passed you. You turned to him with a curl of your lip, and deftly flipped him off.

“I’m not.”

He scoffed quietly. “We’ll see.”

He padded his way towards a large canopy bed, laced with sheer fabric in delicate directions around the poles of the bed. The mattress looked soft and the sheets silky over it, with one lone pillow in the middle. Turning to you, he gestured to the far end of the bed. “You’ll be on that side.”

Rolling your eyes as your back turned to him, you muttered, “Don’t tell me what to do,” as you climbed til the farthest end of the bed, your knees dipping into the soft mattress. You flopped onto your stomach and you heard him climb in after a pregnant pause. He snatched the pillow from your side and pointedly fluffed it down on his end, making your eyes roll exaggeratedly. You heard the sound of a familiar whistle through the air and your head lifted to see the long sword hovering in the space between you and Alucard.

You met his gaze. “You come anywhere close to my side, and my sword will act. That’s all I have to say.” he stated gloomily, but he didn’t sound nearly as threatening as earlier.

You nodded and folded your arms into your chest, inhaling the lavender scent of everything that surrounded you. The musky smell of wood and mint and weathered books with hot wax all meshed into one room lulled you to sleep as you curled further in a fetal position. Unbeknownst to you, Alucard was watching you sharply, not daring to sleep until he was certain you were deep into slumber. You fell asleep rather quickly, your breath slowing into an occasional pace and he sensed your heartbeat relax. 

He fell back into his pillow with a sigh, folding his arms to his chest and prayed his sword would act if necessary. To wound of course, but not to kill, thanks to the new link upon his neck. He glanced at the chain and suddenly realized its length grew. Extended to two arms’ length, but no more. He bit into his lip as his gaze traveled to your sleeping form. He wanted to know where you came from, who you were, and why you did what you did.

He sank into a light sleep with dreams of coffins and gazelles on his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternative title: Naked and Afraid (Wallachia edition)
> 
> Let me know how you liked this chapter! I wanna hear some feedback before I continue with the next one :D


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